Creating a Spaghetti Map for your work area

What is Spaghetti Mapping? Spaghetti Mapping is a tool which will: - – Expose inefficient layout – Identify large distances travelled between key steps by staff, patients, request cards and specimens, images, result letters, patient notes etc – Encourage the development of an improved workplace layout – Build a visual representation of the way the department works – Identify the root cause of problems and waste in the process

Step 1 Find some floor plans of your work areas. If you do not have any, contact your building and facilities department or your fire officer who will have detailed drawings. Using a photocopier, increase the size of the area you wish to focus on to A4 or A3. If you cannot get any floor plans, draw a simple floor plan of your area. Handy hint – Don’t draw on your original! Take a number of photocopies before you start!

Step 2 By watching the process, draw one continuous line for each movement directly onto the floor plan – Use different colours to track the items and people moving through your process on the same floor plan. For Example: – Staff movement, the patient and the patient notes – Staff movement, the sample and the request card – Staff movement, patient notes and the drug trolley

Step 2 Cont. Initially follow the one patient / image / sample through the process. To get an accurate picture of FLOW, draw the process a number of times on the same floor plan. Draw exactly what you see! If the member of staff goes to answer the phone, collect more paper for the printer or reagents for the analyser – draw it on your map. Rule – this MUST NOT be done by sitting at your desk, you need to be watching the process as it happens.

Your Spaghetti Map may look something like this… Sample Request Card Staff Movement

What next? By analysing the different coloured lines, you can: – Clearly identify any poor layout – Identify unnecessary movement and large distances travelled between key steps by staff, specimens, patients, request cards, result letters etc – Calculate the length of travel – Identify the root cause of problems and the WASTE in the process. This mapping exercise can encourage the development of an improved workplace layout by moving items or equipment closer together or amalgamating processes to optimise flow.

Optimise flow by moving process steps closer together, amalgamating steps or even removing unnecessary steps. Sample Request Card Staff Movement

Improving Layouts Using Work Cells Current layout - straight lines make it hard to balance tasks because work may not be divided evenly. Improved layout - in U shape, workers have better access. U-shaped line may reduce employee movement and space requirements while enhancing communication, reducing the number of staff, and facilitating quality control. Taken From: Operations Management Chapter 9 – Layout Strategy © 2006 Prentice Hall, Inc